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Roasted Pumpkins

Friday, 28 October 2016

The warm and sweet nature of pumpkin makes it one of the most delightful comfort foods to be enjoyed roasted, steamed and smeared with butter, or blended into soups in the cooler months.

Did you know that pumpkins are not vegetables but fruits? They come in a multitude of shapes, sizes and colours. There are yellow, red, green, white, blue and even multi-coloured striped pumpkins. They can be huge, tiny, flat, short, tall, round, pear-shaped, long-necked, smooth, ribbed and even warty. Pumpkins are amazing for culinary uses. Inside the hard orange or yellow skin, the bright orange flesh is soft, sweet, smooth and honeyed. They are a good source of fiber, as well as providing a range of vitamins and minerals.

Last week when I was doing my shopping, I discovered a stand at the farmers market full of all sorts of pumpkins and I couldn't do but buying them all. They were so bright and colourful that I couldn't resist!

When buying pumpkins, choose the ones that feel heavy for their size with a smooth, firm skin. Shape is not important. An asymmetrical pumpkin is not necessarily a bad pumpkin. They must have 2.5 to 5 cm of stem left. If the stem is cut down too low, the pumpkin will decay quickly or may be decaying at the time of purchase. Avoid pumpkins with flaws and soft spots.

But this time, instead of using them in soup or cake, we just decided to cut them in halves, season with different blends and roast them carefully. This way, we were able to appreciate the different textures, flavours, colours and decide which one was our favourite.